Songkran revellers are returning to Bangkok and Eastern Economic Corridor provinces in droves today, the last day of the long holiday, to report back to work on Wednesday.
The Friendship Highway, the main route linking Bangkok with north-eastern provinces, is reported to be congested with private cars and public transport vehicles heading for Bangkok. Traffic is moving slowly and police anticipate increased traffic later today and into the night.
Highway police say that a special lane will be open on the in-bound Phahonyothin Road to facilitate traffic flow.
The Mor Chit 2 bus terminal has been packed with passengers returning from northern and north-eastern provinces since this morning and it is expected to remain so until late at night.
Suthipong Harnchieu, an official of the Transport Company at the bus terminal, said that eight public buses from the Bangkok Mass Transit Company have been arranged to provide shuttle services to the BTS train station at Mor Chit, from 4am until 7am, as the number of taxies are not sufficient to cope with number of arrivals.
Meanwhile, Public Health Minister Cholnan Srikaew reports that the death toll from road accidents during the past five days has risen to 206 and 1,593 others were injured.
301 road accidents were reported yesterday, resulting in 39 killed and 314 injured. The main cause of the accidents was speeding, accounting for 43.19% of the accidents, followed by drunk driving and cutting in.
According to the Probation Department, 3,973 drunk driving cases have been recorded in the past five days, representing a 32.3% drop from last year.
Bangkok alone recorded 446 cases of drunk driving, the highest in the country, followed by 238 cases in Nonthaburi and 214 in Samut Prakan.
